San Antonio, TX
Tuesday January 1, 2008
5:03am I just woke up. I'm glad I woke up early. I got six and a half hours of sleep.
I took a picture of me before I left.
7:02am I am leaving. All packed up and ready to go. I woke up at five and have been getting ready since. I had a big bowl of rice and I'm bringing some leftovers in Ziploc sandwich bags. Last night we had a delicious New Years Eve meal with honeyham and potato salad, etc. I'm taking three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I am all loaded up, I ha(ve a light bag and I'm heading off to work. I'm going to catch the bus at 7:09 to the Walmart then the 88 to Bandera and 410. I hope I'm going to have enough time to smoke a cigarette at the bus stop. I don't have my one-hitter, but at least I still have my bullet pipe.
7:17am The bus never came and I just realized that today was a holiday. It's January first two thousand and eight. Happy New Years everybody. Big damper, I thought. Hmm, should I start walking around the loop tomorrow? I really should've walked down to the Church's even though I don't know if the 606 is running today.
Umm, I've got plenty of food. I am going to walk to Bandera and 410. I've got me a jug or Riovida to drink. I'm off. I didn't do my stretches or anything. I'm going to take my time walking around the loop this time. It's no speed contest. I know I can do it in two days already. I got plenty of weed to smoke. I'll smoke people out on this walk.
7:29am I took a pause in front of LaPetite and put on some gloves. It's chilly.
7:33am The sun came up. I took a picture of it. Good morning, sunshine.
7:36am I'm walking down Guilbeau and I just saw a dead deer. I took a picture of it. Poor guy.
8:11am I'm walking down Bandera now. I've been walking in for a little bit. I just walked by another road kill. All these buzzards were dining on it. They pulled its guts out and everything. I took a picture of it.
I put my clown wig on. I can't believe it took me this long.
8:14am I was walking by the Walmart and was tempted to jump on the 88. Screw it. I said I was going to walk to Bandera and 410. I'm going to walk there and then walk around the loop. I have plenty of food and I can always get more. I'm going to walk around the loop.
I was thinking maybe another interesting San Antonio walk would be to walk across the whole town. Loop 1604 to Loop 1604. And back maybe.
8:36am Just passed El Verde Road. I'm going to take a piss.
8:55am Coming up on Loop 410. I'm going to go to the Shell station and buy some Buglers for $2.05. Then I'm going to sit down and rest, eat, then start walking around the loop. I'm going to stretch too.
9:15am I forgot to tell you, I'm off. I ate a full meal. A little bit of everything. Some potato salad, honeyham and half a PBJ sandwich. I took a mouthful or Riovida and I am off. I layered down a little bit. It's still kind of chilly.
9:25am This cool guy walked by and I gave him my website. I paused and layered up a bit. I put on my grey thermal top underneath my WPTMJ shirt.
Damn, I'm stupid. I left that map of Loop 410 at home.
9:39am A minute ago I took a picture of Ingram Mall from the other side of the highway.
9:40am I took another picture of the mall. I think I noticed when I walked around the loop last time that I didn't see Macy's at North Star Mall anymore. My ex Chasity used to work at Macy's. Well, I just walked by Ingram and I found the Macy's. There didn't used to be Macy's at Ingram. I wonder why it's not at North Star anymore.
I miss you, Chasity.
9:43am I just crossed Ingram Road. I'm going to walk up on the ledge in front of Holmes High School. I'll take a picture of it.
9:57am First honk of the day. It's all dead right now.
Coming up on Culebra Road.
10:02am Crossing Culebra Road.
10:06am Military Drive ¼ mile away.
10:08am I'm pretty sure I'm crossing Leon Creek right now.
10:17am Passing Military Drive.
10:20am Walking in front of the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research. Tom Slick, founder.
10:25am I've been walking for like an hour. I'm going to sit down and take a rest here. Not because I'm tired. I want to smoke some more weed, hehe.
10:40am Up and at 'em. I'm all stoned. I smoke a whole bowl. I sat down in the soft grass and smoked.
10:51am Marbach Road, ¼ mile.
11:04am I'm going to go in the Exxon and get some water.
11:08am Leaving the Exxon. Man, screw water. I refilled my whole liter Planet K bottle with Sobe Energy Drink. And I walked right through the door. Walked right through the door. Hey alright. If I get by. It's a'mine! Mine all mine! Go!
11:20am I stopped and took my hoody off.
11:32pm I just walked underneath I90.
11:37pm I just took another picture of some more roadkill. I don't know if it was a dog or something.
I'm coming up on my hour mark. I don't know if I'm going to stop and rest though. I should air out my feet. I'm going to find a good little place to rest and smoke out. I'm going to smoke all my weed like today.
Coming up on Valley Hi Drive. Lackland Air Force Base. I'm going to walk to that HEB down there and take a piss and smoke.
11:42pm Walking by the Saint Vinvent de Paul Catholic Church. What's up, Vincent?
11:46pm Man, there's a whole string of churches on this side of 410. Right now I'm in front of the Mighty Fortress Christian Fellowship. There's some more roadkill. A dead dog. This one was like a pet. It wasn't a stray. It had a harness on and shit. I'm sorry, guy. His eyes are still open. I'm going to take a piss and sit and smoke on these bleachers in front of this baseball field.
Wait, there's like a church pew out here I can sit on. It's all concealed. I can smoke weed! Like that matters to me. Being concealed, not smoking weed, hehe. I'm like a quarter of a mile away from that HEB.
12:05pm I'm still sitting down chilling on this pew. My little sanctuary here. Man, I'm stoned off my ass. I loaded a whole other bowl. I'm letting me feet dry out. I like this little trick I picked up on the road. I put my socks in the sun so they could dry out. I turned them inside out. Man, for some weird reason I keep getting hole over my left big toe.
Like, because of this I'll need another six pairs of socks before I take off traveling again. I don't know why that toe keeps wearing out. I've cut the nail all the way.
I shouldn't be wasting tape. I'm recording on this one thirty minute tape that came with the recorder. I brought like an extra backup ninety minute one I can tape over. I should really get new tapes before I leave. Ahh, I can keep taping over the old ones.
12:12pm I had a damn good rest in the shade on that pew. It was a bit chilly so I put my hoody on. I just stuffed it back in my bag and I'm taking off now. My feet are all dry and they feel great. I'm walking now. Thank you, Mighty Fortress.
12:13pm Holy shit! There's a cop parked in the parking lot on the other side of the church! I'm going to walk right past him, ha. I just smoked a lot of weed right on the other side of a cop!
Haha, I can't believe that while I was smoking marijuana there was a police officer sitting his car right on the other side of the building! He just sitting there being a speedtrap. Man, that was awesome.
Like, right after I took that picture I rounded the corner and these two dogs came out and started barking at me. I guess somebody had come to the church. I had to cross the access road to avoid the dogs. That's when I saw the cop. I'm wearing my WPTMJ shirt. I doubt he read it.
Big brother's watchin'.
Be sure to put that in my quotes. When I said, "Nobody's done this yet. I'm going to jump all over it." (1-23-05, 2:57pm)
12:23pm Crossing Medina Base Road. Valley Hi HEB coming up.
Hell yeah, I was walking by the Mobil gas station next to the access road right after Medina Base. I see some guy in a truck just sitting there. I walk up to him and he laughs when he sees my shirt. He was rolling up some weed right then! I gave him my website. I asked him, "Smoke a brother out?" He told me he only had enough for a pinner and I told him not to worry about it. I'm walking around the loop.
Dude, I should've totally pulled out my little container and gave him a little for his joint. I can't believe I didn't think to. I totally had enough to contribute to his cause. Hehe, I should've told him, "But, there's a small price you have to pay. Go to my website and sign my guestbook and tell me what you think." I should've done that, but I didn't. Next time I will. Next time I have weed and somebody is short.
Hmm, I think I was on Valley Hi, not Medina Base. Because I'm walking and I see a sign that says Medina Base Road coming up.
12:37pm Passing Medina Base Road.
12:54pm I'm going to pause in front of Freedom Hills, this new neighborhood they're building here. I'm going to layer down and take my Adidas pants off.
12:56pm Taking off.
1:20pm I forgot to tell you. I just went in the Bill Millers and got refilled my liter bottle. I didn't drink all of that energy drink. I ended up pouring the last of it out. That stuff made me thirsty. I'm going to keep walking now. I'm here at the Bill Millers by the Sonic and that taqueria I got hooked up at last time(12-20-07, 9:52am). I don't know what road this is. I'll look it up. Pearsall Road
I've been walking off the pavement in the grass to conserve my tennis ball. I could be walking a lot easier, but I only have one more ball after this one dies. Umm, how am I supposed to walk around the loop?? Man, and I had like two extra ones I left at home. Bad planning.
1:27pm Whoa, coming up on Christa McAuliffe Junior High. Umm, tennis courts, hopefully.
842-RPG These guys had pulled over to eat their fastfood. I walked up to the car and offered them my website, but they were all nodding their heads. Damn, have you always been that ignorant? Oh yeah, I'm walking by the Christa McAuliffe middle school. The Rockets. I'll take a picture.
1:31pm No tennis courts. I'd have to jump the fence if there were. Hehe, that reminds me of that Christa McAuliffe joke I tell. How did they know Christa McAuliffe had dandruff? They found her head and shoulders on the beach!
1:38pm I'm about to cross some railroad tracks. I took a picture. I just might stop and rest here. Air out my feet again.
I'm excited to get to that part where I had to jump the creek last time(12-19-07 6:01pm). I want to take pictures of that stuff in the day. It was cool that I had those roots to stand on close to the water or I never could have pulled that off.
2:00pm I am taking off. I had a great little rest. Aired out of my feet and everything. I didn't take my socks off this time. I let them dry while I was wearing them. My feet feel great. I ate some more too. I had some more of that honeyham and the other half of that sandwich. I have two whole other sandwiches left. I have food for the unpopulated portion of 410.
Look at my veiny calf.
2:03pm Found me a Deja Blue twenty ounce water bottle. It still has the plastic cap over the spout, so I can assume it's pretty clean. I really needed another bottle.
2:11pm Just hopped over some more railroad tracks.
2:13pm One mile away from Somerset Road.
Yeah, I realized I could just wear the sock with the hole on the other foot. So, I have a new sock to wear out on my left foot, hehe.
Did I tell you I'm all stoned, hehe. Walking is fun. On weed, hehe.
2:34pm Cool, I'm walking West 410. Not South 410 anymore.
2:54pm Coming up on sign that says Pala Alto Road one mile.
2:58pm I just realized I'm going to walk by Palo Alto College. Umm, colleges have tennis courts. I'm like a mile away from Palo Alto Road.
I feel a sore throat coming on. I think I'm smoking too much.
3:02pm Cool, I think I'm coming up to that creek I had jumped over last time.
Random shot.
3:07pm I came here and inspected this place. The water is higher right now. It seems that the tree I climbed down last time, it seems it has fallen over. Maybe I can get across the water this time because it fell over. Hmm. If I can't get across the water I'll have to double back on the highway and go over the highway. I'm going to rest here. I don't know if I'm going to do it on this side or the other side of the water.
3:15pm I'm on the other side already! Coincidentally, the tree I had climbed down last time had fallen down since then. It's only been a couple weeks. It was all dead and branches were breaking and snapping, but my ultra-lite ass was able to go across it without falling in the water. I could hear them crackling and stressing with my weight. I just went over. I did it. My name ain't Victor for nuthin'.
I had to throw my stick over. I'm lucky it got tangle up in the trees and didn't go down the creek. It would've been a mad(wet)-dash if my stick had fallen in the water. I took a picture of the water underneath me when I was crossing over those dead branches.
3:22pm I dryly made it to the other side. I'm going to sit down and rest and smoke.
3:33pm I'm up from my break. I'm going to go up the big incline and start walking Loop 410 again. I am almost to Palo Alto Road. I'm not going to stop at the gas station there. I already had my rest. Oh yeah, I am going to stop and fill up my water bottle. I also have to fill up the other bottle I found.
3:38pm Whoa, I see three kids walking the access road in the opposite direction. When they come within earshot I'm going to ask them, "Are you guys walking around the loop too?" I'll try and smoke them out.
They didn't want to smoke. They were scared.
3:45pm The weirdest thing. I hopped over the highway to go to the gas station. I shot for the gaps. I start walking towards the gas station and all of a sudden I see a dog lying in the middle of the road. Just lying there dead, it seemed. I assume it's roadkill and I go to grab my camera. I get a little closer and it gets up and starts running away! It had just been laying in the middle of the road sleeping or something. Dog with a deathwish. Crazy.
I zoomed in on him way down the road after he ran off. Ugh, my throat is all dry. It's hard to talk.
3:52pm I just came out of the Jack in the Box. Everyone was smiling at me. I have my wig on, remember? I just went in and refilled my water at the soda fountain. I'm going to go to Palo Alto now. It's getting cold. I'm going to put my hoody on.
3:56pm I left the Jack in the Box and it got really chilly and windy outside. I stopped to put my sweater on and layer up. A strong gust of wind just flew my rainbow wig away. It was rolling away on the pavement and I took off after it. A car coming out the drive through had to go around and everything. Then I grab my wig and my pouch of tobacco falls out of my pocket and start blowing away! So I'm going to walk to Palo Alto College and take another break there. Eat a little food. I'm going to look for tennis balls.
4:04pm I'm walking to the tennis courts and I already see a tennis ball inside, I think. All the gates are locked. Shit, how am I going to get in there? Then I saw the tennis ball was right next to the fence! I've done this before. I just have to pull up the fence and pinch the ball underneath.
4:05pm I have at least one extra tennis ball. I wonder if there are any other ones like this.
4:09pm The weirdest thing. I'm walking laps around the tennis courts scanning for balls. I only have one so far. I came in between the courts to look inside the trashcans next to this bench. Underneath the bench I saw a little cat. I look again and see that it's a dead cat! It's just crazy all these dead animals I've seen today. I took a picture of him. Can you see him underneath the bench? My walking stick is in the picture too. Bye kitty, kitty.
I took a piss in the trashcan! Haha. There's no liner. Just a metal cylinder. Looking for tennis balls.
I think I see another one.
Sweet, there's one inside next to the fence again. I took a picture of it. So I'm going to get at least two.
4:12pm Got it.
All this time while I've been walking 410 I've been walking in the grass to conserve my boots and tennis ball. The ShoeGooing is holding up great. It's the conservationalist in me, hehe. I only had one extra ball left, but now I have two more. Thank you, universe, for providing me with those two tennis balls. And the tennis courts were right next to the highway.
Hmm, I see this hoody hanging on the other side of the fence of this construction area. I'm going to trespass and steal it. I might need it for later on. Hmm, how am I going to do it?
Cool, the gate to it is all knocked down. I'm going to crawl under it.
4:17pm I just jacked me an extra-large hoody. I went in there and in and out. Fuck the system.
Everybody knows what time it is. I'm going to stop and celebrate.
4:22pm I have re-donned my wig.
4:32pm Man, I'm walking the access road and I could swear I hear that Doe a Deer, a Female Deer song chiming away somewhere on my left. There's just woods here.
4:43pm I'm on East 410 now.
4:58pm More roadkill. Poor puppy. Death machines cars are.
5:07pm Moursun Blvd. There's some apartments here. I'm walking on the highway shoulder right now. I'm not even on the access road. I've been walking it for a while now.
5:12pm Whoa, I had the weirdest impulse to cross over to the other side of the highway. I just shot for the gaps in traffic. I walked by and realized that the police academy was coming up on that side. That's what the weird impulse was about. I didn't see it. At least not with my conscious vision.
5:15pm I paused for a piss-break. I'm going to keep walking. I'm three quarters of a mile away from Roosevelt Avenue. 281 South. There's a Shell station down there.
Whoa, I've almost gone two hours without stopping. I just realized that.
There's a dead bird, but I shouldn't take a picture of it.
Oh shit, I didn't know there was any place on Loop 410 where the speed limit is seventy. It's over here.
5:22pm Walking in front of Frank M. Tejeda Academy. There's a truck pulled over coming up. If these guys are cool I'm going to smoke them out. They seem to be broken down. They've got their hazards on.
5:46pm I helped that guy out. He wouldn't let me take his picture.
It was this guy and a girl and they had run out of gas. They were just sitting there doing nothing waiting for someone to magically pull over. They didn't have a cellphone. I stood there for like maybe ten minutes giving traffic the phone hand signal, but nobody stopped. This fire truck went by. I gave the guy a couple hits before I left. He was all happy I stopped. When I first walked up I went, "I see you guys are broken down. I'm here to brighten your day. Wanna smoke some
weed? That's why I'm stopping." Always glad to be of service. Just doin' my job.
It's cold. I put my hoody on. I even have a backup hoody which I stole from the construction yard, which I am now glad I did. It's going to be really cold tonight. I think I'm going to aim for the same place I crashed last time. I did walk the larger half of the loop when I got there last time, so I should get there shortly. I don't know. Maybe I'll find another place to crash. Hmm, there's a Shell station and a McDonald's coming up.
Oh yeah, when I had first walked up to that guy in the broken down car he asked me if I knew where the gas station was. I pointed to the Shell station about half a mile away and he said he had already been to that one and it was shut down. Oh yeah, I remember walking by that closed-down gas station last time. That's where I took a shit in the bucket. I wonder if that paint bucket is still there. I'm going to go check.
Right now all these cars were stopped at the stoplight and these kids read my shirt and were all, "Yeah! Yeah!" Honking the horn and shit.
6:06pm Passing Espada Road.
6:31pm Coming up on the 410/281 Junction.
6:34pm Crossing over the San Antonio River. Almost, about to.
I can't see what time it is. The streetlights are out over here. I see a sign that says Exit 42 Southton Road and South Presa Road one mile. That's where I'm crashing at. Just like last time.
There's the gas station, the Citgo. That's where I'm going to get my map of Loop 410. Like I did last time. Sweet. I hope that same old dude is there. Maybe he'll let me tell him my story, hehe.
Whiteside's.
6:56pm I paused and I took a piss under the highway right before I get to the gas station.
Oh damn, it's closed for New Years. All the lights are off. That sucks. Oh well, I don't need it to be open. I've got food in my bag and a twenty ounce bottle of water. I don't get to tell anybody my story, but I'm dead-tired. I'm going to go to sleep. Umm, I'm not dead-tired. I could keep walking. I'm not going to. I'm going to get a full night's sleep. I'm going to do it just like last time here.
6:58pm I'm going to call my mom at the payphone. I have fifty cents. She'll be glad to hear from me.
7:33pm I have secured my sleeping-spot again. I took a picture of it. That white board is still here. I layered up at the gas station and walked over here. Those dogs were inside and didn't bark at me.
7:45pm I am all bedded down hanging out and smoking before I go to sleep. Like I did last time. I'm leaning against this tree. I've got this big light shining from that trailer. Somebody lives here with two dogs. Luckily they weren't outside when I walked by.
7:47pm Holy shit, my camera is non-responsive now. I didn't bring any extra batteries either. But, I was able to do the trick that I learned where I switch the batteries and the camera turned on again and I took a picture. I don't know how many more times it will come on after this though. Maybe I'll have to stop somewhere and shoplift some AA batteries.
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